Some businesses turn housing bust into a boon
In South Florida’s real-estate gold rush, the promise of instant wealth drew thousands of players into the local housing market. Cheap money flowed from lenders’ coffers lubricating a vast matrix of builders, sellers and buyers. No credit, bad credit, no problem.
The businesses in the middle — mortgage brokers, real-estate agents, title companies and a host of others — made easy killings. Many of them were newcomers with little experience.
The downturn abruptly ended the days of profit by fiat, but it is bringing fortune to a new legion of entrepreneurs serving a real-estate market awash in foreclosures.